Capacity building for plant conservation

Building the capacity needed to conserve plant diversity underpins Kew's international programme, through the provision of practical training and focused courses to support partners within the botanical, plant conservation and sustainable development communities.

Demonstrating specialist techniques for propagating a critically endangered fern from Ascension Island

What is capacity building?

Capacity building is a blanket term to cover learning new skills and techniques, sharing experiences and helping to improve facilities and information transfer. With the ever-increasing threats to the world's vegetation from habitat loss, invasive species and climate change, the shortage of global capacity needed to solve the biodiversity crisis has become critical.

Why is increased capacity for conservation needed?

Plants offer potential long-term, sustainable solutions to environmental and human problems, but a global shortage of trained biodiversity and conservation specialists is compromising action to conserve them. This lack of capacity is recognised in the Millennium Development Goals, the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation and must be addressed if international conservation and development targets are to be met.
A better understanding of the components of biodiversity is essential for supporting effective decisions about conservation and sustainable use priorities. Specialists also need appropriate resources for their work, ranging from field guides and vegetation maps to research facilities.

Kew's capacity building activities

Kew builds conservation capacity through partnership and collaboration, founded upon education, training and skill-sharing in our areas of expertise - plant diversity, science, collections, conservation, environmental sustainability, horticulture and education. The goal is to transfer the knowledge and expertise that will enable people and organisations to respond to botanical, horticultural and plant conservation challenges. Kew's work is enriched by this exchange.

Read about Kew's capacity building activities in Growing expertise for plant conservation (pdf)
Find out more about how Kew scientists, conservationists and horticulturists share their expertise